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Nehem Kesik
Background Nehem Kesik is a deva, and like most of the rest of his race has lived hundreds of previous lives. He often draws upon the faint memories of his past lives to better exploit the weaknesses of his enemies. Nehem received a great shock in his current life when he found himself in an unfamiliar desert with no memory of how he had arrived or how to depart. After nearly three days of wandering to find any sign of other people or sustenance with no luck, Nehem was on the point of collapse. At this point Nehem saw what seemed to be a hand composed of sand and light beckoning him. Despite his misgivings that this was most likely an illusion brought on by exhaustion and malnourishment, Nehem followed the hand. In a short time it led him to an oasis with clean water with what appeared to be a small settlement in sight. The sands had changed to an indistinct swirling mass around a bright light, but were now slowly dispersing. Nehem decided to try and communicate with the anomaly and questioned its nature; when it didn't respond he tried each of the languages he knew well. When he spoke to it in primordial, it identified himself, calling himself Buragan. Nehem quickly had deep misgivings about it. From what he could remember of most of his previous knowledge with primordials, they had always been destructive and generally mindless. Still he pressed on questioning the being, for he had aided him, asking Buragan why he had helped him. He told him that she often helped travelers through the desert, especially those in dire need. Though this was one of the few times he had been so direct and the few that had noticed a powerful beings presence had been unable to communicate with him. Nehem then asked Buragan, "Do you desire some compensation for aiding me?" Buragan responded that he was indeed looking for a champion for he had few followers, though Nehem was under no command to decide at the moment. Nehem took the next few days to travel to the small settlement and another larger city nearby and was informed that he was in the Darksand Desert. There he inquired about the nature of the desert to the inhabitants. He heard many stories of the desert seeming to bend to help travelers. Sandstorms seemed to change course to avoid travelers, swirling sands led paths through the sand to other cities and water. Nehem also talked to a few that had become lost in the desert and they all had similar stories; sand and light, in myriad shapes and forms, led them to water and out of the desert. With all this information, Nehem was convinced that Buragan meant no great harm. Heading back into the desert he called to Buragan and swore an oath of service to the God. In the next year, Nehem had managed to bring a small handful into Buragan's service. They spent large parts of their time either traveling through the desert helping those in need or offering their services protecting merchant or civilian caravans. He grew concerned during this period for the desert was becoming dark even with the blazing suns overhead. It was while protecting a civilian caravan that Nehem was overwhelmed and captured. After killing Urum-Shar with the Church of Night, Nehem returned to the shrine of Buragan to restore it and continue his teachings. He also instituted a new training program in case those who had tried to take over the shrine returned. Revelations During Buragan's service, Nehem was often troubled by his inability to recall how he had come to the desert. When he tried to recall recent events and memories he often experienced a strange phenomenon. It was as if the memories were there, but an impenetrable fog obscured his mind. This all changed when the Church of Night confronted Ronin. Memories came crashing back like an avalanche. In his most recent past life Nehem had been a commander of a squad in the order called The Raven's Hand. The leader of the group, Ronin, had been entrusted by the Raven Queen with an orb of immense holy power. This groups great mission was to seek out and destroy the undead. The Wraithlands had always been a source of horrible undead monstrosities and the order had been there numerous times, but could never find the sources of the undead. One fateful day the group had received intelligence on one of the most powerful necromancers. Determined to halt the stream of undead the order departed to engage him in battle. The Raven's Hand thought they were ready, but the sheer power and numbers of undead was staggering. As troops fell around him Nehem noticed a horrible sight. He could see the souls of the dead soldiers being dragged screaming into the necromancer's grim wand. Nehem had never feared death before, but this awful fate broke his spirit and caused him to flee from battle, abandoning his order and squad. Ronin saw this and yelled, "Death will find you!" This might never have been known to others, but Ronin looked around and saw that he was the only one still living. He marshaled nearly all of his remaining energy and called upon all the energy the Raven Queen could offer, causing the orb to release an immense amount of radiant power. This destroyed the necromancer and all the undead in a large area around him. Exhausted from battle and expending the greater part of his energy Ronin collapsed. He was then taken captive by a group of gnolls that desired the orb after seeing it used in battle against the undead, for they made their home in the Wraithlands. After a time, Ronin managed to escape from the gnolls. He vowed then and there to bring punishment to Nehem for fleeing the battle. He also believed that just killing Nehem was far too poor a punishment, for he would soon be reincarnated in a new body; he poured through scrolls to find the perfect ritual. Nehem had managed to escape The Wraithlands, but fairly soon after was captured and brought to Ronin. Ronin informed Nehem that after his death he would find no relief, his soul would be bound to an object and experience nothing but pain. Fortunately for Nehem the ritual was completed improperly and his soul escaped, but his memories were heavily damaged. Appearance Nehem stands at 6'1" and is a nearly uniform dark blue. He is not particularly strong himself, but uses his force of will and connection to Buragan to defeat his foes. Statistics, Powers, and Equipment Powers: Lay on Hands, Divine Challenge, Virtuous Strike, Enfeebling Strike, of Cowardice replaced with Demand Respect, Brilliant Corona, Buragan's grasping sands(Hounds of Letherna), Spurned Smite replaced with Wrathful Smite, Divine Mettle, Halo replaced with Corona of Blinding Radiance, Bless Weapon, Hallowed Circle, Wrath of the Gods, True nemisis, Deathguide's Stance, Feats: Battle Intuition, Power of TyrannyDomain, Poison Adaptation, Superior Will, Holy Symbol Expertise retrain to Devout Protector Expertise, Immortal Skill retrain to Low-light adaptation, Resourceful LeaderWarlord-endurance, Auspicious Lineage, Honored Foe, Hero's Poise, Superior Fortitude, Weapon Proficiency(craghammer), Transcendent Lineage, Weakening Challenge, Power of SunDomain Equipment: Lifegiving Plate Armor +4, Gaurdian ShieldHeavy, Dejada, , Chainsaw Sword Longsword +3, Bralani Cloak +4, Symbol of Brawn +4, Goggles of Night, Hedge Wizard's Gloves (heroic), Cherished Ring, Battlestrider Greaves, Ring of Tenacious Will, Eye of Awareness Category:People